In 1992, Allen re-joined the Department of Commerce and was given a three-year posting in the U.S. embassy in Beijing, where he served as a Commercial Attaché. After the posting, Allen moved to the U.S. Embassy in Tokyo to be a Commercial Attaché there but in 1998, he was promoted to the post of Deputy Senior Commercial Officer and the next year, Allen became a member of the Senior Foreign Service.[3]
In 2000, Allen was recalled to work at the National Center for APEC in Seattle. Two years later, Allen returned to Beijing to be Senior Commercial Officer at the U.S. Mission to China, serving under Clark T. Randt Jr. and managing the whole of the Department of Commerce's delegation at the embassy.[3]
In 2006, Allen was assigned to be Senior Commercial Officer at the U.S. consulate in Johannesburg and was responsible for the Department of Commerce's operations in all 16 SADC countries. In 2010, Allen became the Deputy Assistant Secretary for Asia at the ITA and then, in 2012, the Deputy Assistant Secretary for China.[4]
In July 2022, Allen helped found a group of U.S. business and policy leaders who share the goal of constructively engaging with China in order to improve U.S.-China relations.[6]
In 2024, Allen announced plans to step down as USCBC president by the end of the year. Sean Stein was named as his successor.[7]